Cuttlebone

Thank you for helping us expand this topic!
Simply begin typing or use the editing tools above to add to this article.
Once you are finished and click submit, your modifications will be sent to our editors for review.

Ads by Google

This topic is discussed in the following articles:

anatomy of cuttlefish

any of several marine cephalopods of the order Sepioidea, related to the octopus and squid and characterized by a thick, internal, calcified shell called the
cuttlebone. The approximately 100 species of cuttlefish range between 2.5 and 90 centimetres (1 to 35 inches) and have somewhat flattened bodies bordered by a pair of narrow fins. All species have eight arms and two longer tentacles that...

locomotion constraints

...when the squids are pursued by predatory fishes and dolphins. When the squid jets rapidly through the water, the fins are often curled tightly around the mantle. Cuttlefishes, because of the large
cuttlebone, are less active animals and spend most of their life lying on or hovering slightly above the bottom. Both jet and fins are used, the latter more frequently.

Click anywhere inside the article to add text or insert superscripts, subscripts, and special characters.
You can also highlight a section and use the tools in this bar to modify existing content:

Add links to related Britannica articles!
You can double-click any word or highlight a word or phrase in the text below and then select an article from the search box.
Or, simply highlight a word or phrase in the article, then enter the article name or term you'd like to link to in the search box below, and select from the list of results.

Note: we do not allow links to external resources in editor.
Please click the Web sites link for this article to add citations for
external Web sites.